15 Insanely Pretty Make-Ahead Desserts for Easter

Preparing for an Easter get-together can take days. Weeks. Months, if you’re really serious. There are creative Easter eggs to decorate, baskets to fill with candy and a lot of delicious food to make for Easter brunch. There are only so many hours in the day, and it’s easy to let your grand dessert plans fall by the wayside in favor of, you know, sleeping. So do yourself a favor: Make your desserts ahead of time so you can kick back with an Easter-themed cocktail while your boo does the dishes and the kids (or your besties) are hunting for eggs. Here are 15 of the prettiest treats you can make ahead of your Easter bash.

1. Spring Pastel Confetti Cake: Even if the flowers aren’t in full bloom, this cake will compensate. Cutting into this beauty is like an explosion of springtime — and it’s delicious to boot. (via Brit + Co)

2. Easter Oreo Bark: This festive treat is super easy to make — just melt white chocolate and adorn with crushed Oreos and Easter M&M’s. Sweetly wrapped candy bark would make a great party favor for your Easter brunch attendees. (via Lil’ Luna)

3. Peeps Rice Krispies Eggs: Your peeps won’t be able to get over how cute these Peeps Rice Krispies eggs are. The mock egg shells are made from melted white chocolate coated with a layer of glitter sprinkles, then adorned with real Peeps for a majorly on-theme treat. (via Brit + Co)

4. No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecakes: The joy of the no-bake dessert is saving valuable time and oven space. You can make these no-bake strawberry cheesecakes up to two days ahead — all you need is a heart-shaped tray that you can reuse for next Valentine’s Day. (via Brit + Co)

7. Checkerboard Cake: This cake is something the great British baker, Mary Berry, would call a “showstopper.” Just look at it! How do you even do that? We’ll show you with full instructions that are actually much easier than you’d think. (via Brit + Co)

8. Gilded Watercolor Cake: This gorgeous cake blurs the line between food and art, literally! Put paintbrush to cake to create a pastel sponge-painted look. Don’t forget the gold leaf. This is the stuff dreams are made of. (via Brit + Co)

9. Lavender Honey Macarons: These macarons are like adorable little bites of spring itself. Lavender and honey give a subtle floral sweetness everyone can appreciate. Once you learn how to make these for Easter, you’ll use any excuse to make them over and over again. (via Blahnik Baker)

10. Spring Chocolate Covered Pretzels: These chocolate-covered pretzels get their pizzazz from different colored candy melts. You can prep both the chocolate and the candy melts in a microwave, making this one of the simplest desserts out there. (via Deliciously Sprinkled)

11. Strawberry Donuts: These aren’t your typical fast-food donuts. Make them, then seal these cake donuts in an airtight container after they cool. Then, on the day of, simply dip these babies in a festive pink strawberry Greek yogurt icing and let set. See how easy that was? (via Brit + Co)

14. Chocolate Easter Bunny Cake: This chocolate bunny cake wins Easter. The tasty dessert doubles as an eye-catching centerpiece, and an easy how-to gives you full instructions on recreating this beauty at home. (via The Cake Blog)